Monday, February 9, 2015

Assistive technology is jumping by leaps and bounds for those with
special needs. Because Noah is so young in age, I'm particularly drawn
to products that offer him a way to participate with the family and
offer him inclusion in ways that were not previously possible. I see
it in his eyes how sad he often gets watching his little brother do
things he cannot. He aches to participate. He'll get a whimper in
his voice, and his lower lip will creep up to a small pout and in
tremendous frustration he'll even scream, cry and protest. And as a
parent how can your heart just not crumble knowing your child recognizes
he's stuck on the floor with a disability that prevents him from being
included.

We have found some really great products that have
helped Noah to be included and feel as if he's a part of family
activities. A UK based company called Excitim has some great switch adapting options. For Noah's birthday he was
gifted with two great toys, the Domino Train, the Rally Racer and the
Toy-Fi Teddy. All of them a huge hit with Noah. The Domino Train is a
switch adapted train that spaces dominos and stacks them properly as it
is activated, allowing the child to knock them down after the train has
stacked them. The Rally Racer has become a family favorite. It has
two controls one for Noah's little brother to activate and one that
allows him the use of activating the toy by using an adaptive switch
button. Both boys are able to race cars together on a track. And it's
even made for some healthy typical sibling competition as Noah is better
at racing than his little brother. The Toy-Fi Teddy has been great as
it allows for cell phone messages to be transmitted through the teddy
bear, and then the child can access the message by pressing the hand of
the bear. Comes in handy when you need a message from dad while he's
away.

I have been super impressed with the quality and
selection of the toys Excitim has to offer, and mostly recently have
been using a new adaptive switch dice product. It's an electronic dice
switch that allows a child like Noah to roll dice to actively
participate in any board game that uses dice simply by hitting a
switch. Huge in the land of family participation. Who would have
ever thought that Noah would be able to play a board game with us by
initiating his own action, and not having someone else to do it for
him. He beams with such pride - even when he loses. We've been using
the dice with the game Shoots and Ladders and just recently bought
Junior Monopoly to give us some other options.

This switch
adapted dice is a must have. I love it. It's essential for family
participation. The vendor has been so helpful in answering any questions
that we have and it's been such a blessing that they are willing to
ship to the USA. They are a fabulous vendor and hope I am able to make
additional purchases from them in the future. Our family is growing
with such rich experiences by being able to find ways to participate in
everyday activities together.

"Play, as a freely chosen and
intrinsically motivating activity, is at the core of human development.
It is through play that we share our abilities, make contact with our
deepest self and unleash our potential."Nilda Cosco, Ph.D

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Noah

Noah Mitchell Warden was born December 23, 2008, weighing 9lbs and 1oz by emergency c-section at 8:51am. Noah did not breathe or have a heartbeat for the first 13 minutes of his life. He was taken to Children's Hospital in order to have a procedure done known as brain cooling in attempts to minimize damage caused by perinatal asphyxia. Noah's brain cooled for 72 hours after which time the hospital ran an MRI and an EEG to determine the extent of the damage. Unfortunately, the results came back with devastating news. Noah had suffered "global damage" to his brain. As a result the prognosis was grim. They said Noah would mostly likely never walk, talk, eat or even breathe on his own. Today, Noah has the diagnosis of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy resulting in spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy with athetoid movements. Noah's miracle has brought our story to all of you.